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Casio Privia PX-S1000 ($600) and S3000 ($800)


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When you have both the CP4 and Casio next to each other in the confines of your home, I'd be curious to hear if you still feel the same about the Casio for a Jazz context. And also how it sounds through the TT08As compared to the CP4. Thanks.

Sure Dave, will do. I ordered a PX-S3000 yesterday and should have it in a few days.

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My 3000 was delivered today and I'm just coming up for air. It's fun to play. I like the feel and touch of the keyboard. The piano sounds are pretty wonderful for what looks like just the keybed of a real piano. I'm hoping the internal speakers will be loud enough for rehearsal but I'm not sure about that. I'll find out soon enough. I won't be gigging with this right away, at least until I get better oriented. When I do gig, I'll put it though my 2 K8 speakers. I'm doing a fair amount of menu diving but I won't use the majority of the features and parameters that I can adjust. One thing I'm somewhat disappointed in is the organ sounds, but that's not why I got this board and that's why I have the Nord 5D. But I do NOT want to be gigging 2 boards in addition to my sax. Too much gear is too much to load in, set up, take down, and load out. I'm also a little disappointed in the electric piano sounds. I like the Wurly on my Nord. But I can get into the variety of other e. piano sounds on the 3000. More time is needed on the board. Also, the vast majority of the 700 sounds sound to me like sounds that have been around for years. I'm not sure how many are actually new to Casio and engineered for this board. But I like the pianos and how they sound with the internal speakers. Also I hooked up my expression pedal and that also makes it mo' bettah. New toys are always lots of fun. I'm a happy camper today. Tomorrow never knows ...
These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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You don't need to plug a cable into the headphone jack. Function + F7 will turn the internal speakers on and off, at least on the 1000.
On the 3000 it's function 104.
These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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A single little amp on the floor should be loud enough for many situations , not for a full band though. I do solo piano and duo/trio gigs with a single little 10" Fender bass amp ($179, 17 lbs) on the floor. Sounds huge, like a grand piano.

 

Note: To get a clean tone Rhodes go to EP1 and change the DSP to Stereo 3 Band EQ and save as a Registration on the S3000 only.

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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Note: To get a clean tone Rhodes go to EP1 and change the DSP to Stereo 3 Band EQ and save as a Registration on the S3000 only.
Thanks for that tip.
These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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EP1 is the best, but Casio preset it with heavy phase shifter and tremolo effects. When all that is taken off it's the best clean tone Rhodes in the EP Tone bank. (to do so, simply change the DSP to Stereo 3 Band EQ and save as a Registration. I also recommend setting Knobs 1 and 2 to Chorus and Reverb control. Also, you can boost High Gain for more tine sound.) I'm very pleased with the result. You can only do this with the S3000.

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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Gawd, I love this forum. I have the Gator Frameworks stand for my Nord 5D. It's very heavy but I like it, for the most part. I was looking for a stand that was not quite so deep. The 3000 is 9" deep according to published specs. I looked at the Ultimate Support jam stand and others like it (e.g., Neewer) which say they are 10" deep, so maybe that's the best bet. I'm always trying for the smallest possible stage real estate with the greatest stability. 88 keys is max width and can make life difficult on narrow stages, but if I can shave a few inches off the depth, it makes for better relations with the harp player on stages that aren't very deep to begin with.

 

I picked up this Gator stand and it's a good size for my Nord Stage 3 Compact or my Casio PX S3000. I can handle the 18 lbs because it sets up in 10 seconds and it folds completely flat and is easy to carry or fit on my cart. Thanks guys!

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I wish I was but I am not.

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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Congrats Sam, I look forward to hearing what you think about it.

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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EP1 is the best...

How many velocity layers do you detect? The PX5s has 4.

PX5S also has hexlayer EPs, which could have up to 6, though I haven't examined them (the stock ones or the freely downloadable ones programmed by Dave Weiser). Though some of they're six tones may be used for other things. Maybe release noises, for example.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I received the PX-S3000 yesterday and played it for a few hours. It's a keeper! An amazing keyboard for the price.

 

What I love:

- 25 lbs.

- the weighted action (for most playing situations)

- AP piano sample

- iOS app for editing parameters

- option to run on batteries

- looks great too!

 

What I like:

- internal speakers. They sound very good up to about 3/4 volume; after that the tone takes an unpleasant hit

- surround mode

- music stand

 

What I dislike:

- the other sounds. I don't think I'd use any of them.

- the action for nuanced playing. While key resistance is what I expect for the front half of the key, the back half of the key requires much more force to achieve the same volume. The result is uncomfortable playing and not so good music.

 

What I expect to like:

- Midi implementation. It looks like it will be a very good controller for my laptop rig. My needs aren't very demanding. I'm thinking the patch buttons and two knobs will provide the control I desire.

- expression pedal support

- pitch bend wheel

 

Overall, I'm thrilled to have this lightweight keyboard with an excellent acoustic piano sound, very good weighted action, and nice sounding internal speakers that also has the option of running on batteries.

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When you have both the CP4 and Casio next to each other in the confines of your home, I'd be curious to hear if you still feel the same about the Casio for a Jazz context. And also how it sounds through the TT08As compared to the CP4. Thanks.

Dave, after playing the CP4 and PX-S3000 side by side I've decided I'll be taking the CP4 to jazz gigs. For group playing the PX-S3000 is fine but if I had to play solo piano or even a piano intro I would struggle playing with the desired amount of nuance.

 

I like how the PX-S3000 AP sounds through the TT08As. The CP4 sounds better to me but, of course, it's an unfair comparison because they're not in the same price range. One noticeable difference is that Casio's stereo separation design sounds very straightforward: the further left a key is on the keyboard the further left it is in the stereo image (and visa-versa). The Yamaha implementation is less obvious to my ears. They use the stereo field to create a beautiful / more complex sound and while left keys are panned left and right keys are panned right there's something else going on that's very pleasing. Maybe it's the how the resonance sits in the stereo image? I'm not sure but it is a more inspiring sound.

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"For group playing the PX-S1000 is fine but if I had to play solo piano or even a piano intro I would struggle playing with the desired amount of nuance. "

 

 

Wow--that is a dramatic statement, Al. Are you sure you've set the keyboard touch parameters up correctly? My impression of it, albeit at NAMM, was that it was at least as responsive and comfortable as the Yamaha and my PX5s for that matter. And I think of myself as a nuanced player, much to the frustration of recording engineers at times ;)

Doug Robinson

www.dougrobinson.com

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Yes, I check out the keyboard touch parameters and picked the one that I liked best (i.e., it's called NORMAL).

 

What I'm describing is inherent in the mechanical design. By this I mean if you had a CP4, acoustic piano, and PX-S3000 side by side and pressed their keys from the front to the back you'll find that noticeably more force is required to press the PX-S3000 key toward the back relative to the force required to press the same key toward the front (to achieved the same volume). On the CP4 and acoustic piano the force either doesn't vary, or varies much less, when doing the same.

 

Some players can play with great nuance using the front half of the keys but I can't. So YMMV.

 

Here's a specific example. I played the second movement of Beethoven's Pathetique on the CP4 and PX-S3000. The key of Ab pulls my hands toward the back of the keys. Using the first eight bars as an example, I want to play three distinct layers: melody, bass, and inner voice accompaniment. On the CP4 no problem, but on the PX-S3000 I struggled: some inner voice notes sounded louder than expected while some melody notes sounded lower than expected, etc. -- you get the idea. That's not to say others can't play this piece well on the PX-S3000. It's just to say that I can't.

 

[video:youtube]

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What I'm describing is inherent in the mechanical design. By this I mean if you had a CP4, acoustic piano, and PX-S3000 side by side and pressed their keys from the front to the back you'll find that noticeably more force is required to press the PX-S3000 key toward the back relative to the force required to press the same key toward the front (to achieved the same volume). On the CP4 and acoustic piano the force either doesn't vary, or varies much less, when doing the same.

 

Same reaction here, after playing a PX-S1000 at GC a couple of days ago. The pivot point of each key mechanism must be very very close to the back of the visible portion of the key, to fit within the compact chassis. As a result, the touch at the front of the key is way different from the touch at the back.

Mike
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Things I learned by taking my S3000 to play somewhere else:

 

1. It doesnt fit in my car. I have to wedge it in the back seat with one end as far down on the corner of the floor as I can get it and the other end up high near the roof. I put the board in its shipping box with the styrofoam ends so I could move it without worrying about damage. Even then, I kept banging it into doors and walls. I ordered the carrying case but Sweetwater says it wont be in until mid-June. Im hoping the carrying case will take a couple of inches off the shipping box length so it might barely fit on the back seat. It certainly wont fit in the trunk of my 12-year-old Camry hybrid.

 

2. It has to have an adjustable stand with it. If its put on a standard table or desktop, its too high. I cant make a regular chair or stool be at the right height even with an added cushion. If its on a counter top with a taller stool, its still too high. You either have to have an adjustable stool that goes high enough or a stand at the right height. If Im going to take this to house parties and other casual venues, Ill need to bring my stand and stool and not count on being able to set it up anywhere.

These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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I put it vertically in the front seat, easy fit.

I use a very cheap gig bag, 1/4 foam padded, not the expensive Casio case. Had it ever since my Kurzweil PC2X days.

I use a QuikLok WS550 stand and it works great. For me, almost any chair works. I use the cheapest little portable keyboard bench they make.

 

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 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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Just found out that when you change the touch response, it doesn't save it. If I change the touch response to light from normal, then turn the board off, when I turn it back on it's set to normal again. I guess I have to save touch response for each sound to a registration to keep it saved.

 

Edit: touch response is saved if I turn on Auto Resume. See below.

These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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I was finally able to try both out in NYC yesterday (at a normal height and with sustain pedals).

 

(I also tried the PX560 which I liked better perhaps somewhat due to 2x2 speakers vs. just 2).

 

Some things I liked- some of the acoustic pianos were clear and sounded great in the mids and highs.

 

Because of the design its still weird that the black keys are higher up as the border in back of them where the pianos usually have logos was slim.

 

However, the speakers get limited when playing bass octaves at mid- volumes - if feels as though the unit is struggling to push air out - vs. my P125 which seems to handle these notes better.

 

Since I have the P125 as a mobile; I'll likely pass on the 1000 for now

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I also tried the PX560 which I liked better perhaps somewhat due to 2x2 speakers vs. just 2
I believe the PX560 as a pair of 2-way speakers, I assumed the PX-S3000 would as well, but I suppose it could have a pair of full range speakers instead...?

 

When preferring the sound of the PX560, was that acoustic piano sounds, other sounds, or both?

 

Did you have any preference between the feel of the two actions?

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Have you tried turning on 'auto resume'?
No. I didn't know it existed. I do now. Thank you. I'm still dumpster diving in the manual. Haven't memorized it all yet. I'm still trying to figure how to save registrations and a bunch of other little things.

"You can enable Auto Resume, which will save most settings when power is turned off.

If Auto Resume is disabled, turning off power will initialize settings, except for those below.

Tuning, LCD contrast, pairing information (Bluetooth connection logs), expression/assignable pedal type, expression/assignable pedal calibration, touch button sensitivity."

These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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I put it vertically in the front seat, easy fit.
Not in my Camry, while in its shipping box. Probably will fit in the front or back seat while in a soft case.
These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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I am slowly getting stronger with this new action . I do a lot of two handed big chords in continuous tremolo and boogie woogie like on Night Mist Blues by Monty Alexander or Oscar Peterson and I have to do deep breathing to keep it going... this action its really building me up. The acoustic pianos I variously end up on will be a breeze.

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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